Run Away
by I will never be loved
Summary: Juvia was never rushing through life, she always preferred taking it slow at easy. But a meeting with a charming stranger makes Juvia's heart beat faster, to the point where she has to constantly run in order to keep up with him. StingxJuvia CRACK PAIRINGS BEWARE


**Run**

"_I was never very fast at anything…but I didn't mind. There was nothing wrong with going at my own pace…" _Juvia was always walking at a snail's pace. But one day she crosses paths with a man going through life at the speed of life. Curious, she becomes determined to cross paths with him once more, and perhaps, walk by his side.

"Juvia! Come on, me and Gajeel already went to the trouble of setting this all up," the pink haired girl pouted. "It'll be a waste if you don't come; after all it _is _your birthday we're talking about here."

Two friends, both with brightly coloured hair, walked down the crowded hallways of Fairy Tail Academy.

"Meredy," the blue haired girl snapped impatiently. "Perhaps Meredy and Gajeel should have asked Juvia before they did all of this."

"Come on Juvia," Meredy mewled. "We even got these."

In her hand, she held two realistic yet fake IDs. Juvia's eyes grow bigger and bigger as she gazes on in amazement.

"How did Meredy…what? I…" she bit her tongues and says no more.

"Gajeel," Meredy winked at Juvia.

Juvia sighed once more. Sometimes, she wondered what her best friend, Gajeel, did in his spare time.

"Well, Juvia is sorry to disappoint Meredy and Gajeel but Juvia won't do it," she proclaims once more and proceeds to walk away.

"It was Gajeel's idea!" Meredy exclaimed as a last minute attempt to get Juvia on board.

"Meredy is lying. Why would Gajeel of all people want Juvia to go there?" she asked, curiosity lacing her words. Gajeel was always such a straight-laced guy. Such an idea seemed impossible for Gajeel to suggest.

"Because I want you to have fun," a deep voice cut in.

Juvia caught a gleam of light in the corner of her eye and she knew instantly who it was. A small smile tugged on her lips as she met a familiar face.

"Gajeel," she greeted him happily before remembering the current situation. Her smile faltered into a frown directed towards Gajeel.

"Juvia, you only turn sixteen once, besides we're just gonna have fun. No alcohol or any funny business," he glared at Meredy as he said that last bit.

"Hmm," Juvia pondered on the possible outcomes of the evening. Well, since Gajeel was trying so hard, maybe… "Fine. Juvia will go."

"Yay!" Meredy screamed in joy. "We're going to have so much fun tonight!"

* * *

Juvia was not pleased.

Meredy had shown up around 6 o' clock at Juvia's doorstep wearing an evil grin on her face. She pushed Juvia down onto a chair and began to brush and rub cosmetics unknown to Juvia onto her face. She then squeezed Juvia into a deep blue cocktail dress that Juvia insisted 'just didn't fit', but likewise, Meredy insisted that she just had to 'suck in her gut like a real man'.

She was not pleased at all.

Gajeel showed up at around 8 o' clock on the dot, driving a black '65 Impala which Juvia had never seen Gajeel ride before.

"Get in," he smirked at the two girls, his piercings almost invisible in the dim lighting.

"Nice ride, Gajeel," Meredy smirked right back as she ushered Juvia inside. "Where'd you get it?"

"Well you know, a _nice _man gave it to me," he chuckled deeply to which Meredy replied with her own mildly sinister giggle.

Juvia shivered in the back seat as the engine revved up. Sometimes, she really did worry about her friends.

It was called Blue Pegasus, it shared the name with a school in Magnolia, they said it was because the club owner and the principal of the school were actually one in the same. Anyone who had ever seen Master Bob wandering around wouldn't be surprised at either revelation.

Meredy was out dancing with some guy called Romeo, a real charmer he was. And Gajeel was…well, Gajeel was nowhere to be seen. Juvia sighed, a happy birthday this was…

"Damnit, where is that Rogue…"

Juvia turned her head to see the most striking man she had ever seen, Gajeel included.

He had platinum blonde hair, almost white in fact, and he had a rather piercing look, even more so than Gajeel whose metal piercings would make even the biggest metal head ashamed at the sheer number of them.

He noticed the blue haired girl staring at him and offered a smile directed at her. Surprised, she blushed and lowered her head.

"Having a bad day?" he asked.

"Kind of," Juvia mumbled. "Juvia can't find her friends anywhere."

"Same here," he replied, seemingly ignoring her third-person speech. "I have a friend, Rogue, he brought me here for my birthday but I'm beginning to think he ditched me."

"Really? It's Juvia's birthday too!"

"Oh? In that case, happy birthday to us, then," he grinned at her.

"Juvia hopes you don't mind, but…what is your name?"

"Sting," he answered, looking directly at her. "Sting Eucliffe. And you?"

Juvia thought he sounded a bit smug, but she secretly swooned on the inside.

"Juvia," she gulped.

"Well Juvia," he said, standing up all of a sudden. "Since our friends have seemingly left us, I propose we ditch this place."

"Where does Sting propose we go?"

"Wherever the wind takes us."

It was strange, Juvia thought. She was always such a worrywart. If Meredy or Gajeel or anyone else had said that to her, she would have berated them for not having a better plan.

But…

There was something about the way he said it, perhaps it was that air of confidence he carried or that smile he had, but Juvia found herself agreeing quickly.

It was their birthdays after all...and Gajeel _did _say to have fun…

* * *

They ended up in a small diner run by a lady called Cana. It was a bit run down, had that rustic feel to it, but Juvia preferred this quiet diner over that loud club she was dragged to.

"So what can I get you two lovebirds?" asked their brown eyed waitress.

"No, we aren't-"

"I think I'll have the beef on gravy fries and a chocolate milkshake," announced Sting.

"Juvia will have the same," she mumbled.

The waitress nodded, repeated their order and walked back towards the kitchen.

It was then that Juvia realized just how empty the diner was.

"So," began Sting. "What do you do?"

"What?"

"You know, what do you do every day?"

"Juvia is a student," she answered politely.

Sting's eyes widened and she realized why. She was in a night club. That is no place for students to be.

"I'm talking classes at Fiore College!" she covered up her lie quickly, almost too quickly. "On the side…"

"Oh really, for what?"

"Uhh, for creative writing," she said. "It's just a one year course."

"That's nice," he said with a sigh. "Sometimes I miss being a student."

"How old is Sting?"

"Just turned twenty three," he winked at her.

Twenty three! He was seven years older than Juvia! But of course she couldn't tell him that.

"So Sting is already working…" she mumbled, mostly to herself.

"Yeah, but it's not a very interesting job," he added thoughtfully.

"What does Sting do?"

"I'm the new C.E.O of Raven Tech."

"That's impressive," Juvia exclaimed, admiration sparkling in her eyes.

"Nah, it's not what I want to do anyway…" he trailed off. "Well, enough about me. So, do you plan to be a writer after that course?"

"What?"

"You know, that creative writing course."

"Oh, right!" Juvia sighed. She had to be more careful or else she'd be found out. "No, not really, it's just something for fun."

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Well," Juvia was at a loss for words, she really was. "Juvia's not sure. She never really thought about it."

"No pressure," Sting chuckled, patting her roughly on her shoulder, taking Juvia by surprise. "You still have a year to figure it out."

"Two beefs on gravy fries and two chocolate milkshakes!"

They both jumped at the sudden intrusion in their casual conversation.

The waitress set down their order and leaned towards Juvia and whispered a soft message to the bluenette.

"Don't let this one get away."

Promptly, Juvia blushed furiously while the waitress giggled.

"This beef is great!" Sting smiled happily while chewing through his meal. He looked so young like this, almost like he was Juvia's age… "What's wrong? You're not touching your food."

"Huh? Oh, no, Juvia was just thinking…"

* * *

"Juvia, you are one hell of a woman!" Sting exclaimed while they strolled down the streets of Magnolia, in a drunken stupor.

"Oh Sting," Juvia giggled, she too very intoxicated. "Stop it."

"I mean come on, I've never seen any other woman chug down that much beer!"

"That was," she hiccupped. "Nothing."

"Really Juvia. I've never met anyone like you."

"Well Juvia has never met anyone like Sting also."

"Juvia," he called her attention, halting his steps. "I was wondering maybe tomorrow we could-"

Oh no. Bad. Very bad. This was very, _very _bad. At this rate, Sting would…

"No!" she shouted suddenly.

Sting looked taken aback. "Why?"

"Because Juvia…Juvia has cancer! Yeah, that's it, she's going to die tomorrow, yeah," Juvia couldn't believe herself. Cancer? Really? Pfft, things like that only happens in clichéd love novels. Certainly Sting wouldn't-

"Ahahahahaha!" Sting burst into laughter in the middle of the street. Though he attracted the attention of many, for the moment, it felt as though it was only him and Juvia. "Cancer, huh? Well, I can't say I believe that, but I'll give you points for trying."

"Juvia is sorry," she twiddled her fingers, embarrassed at her lame excuse.

"It's fine," he waved it off. "You have your reasons and I have mine. But…I do hope we'll meet again."

"Is Sting okay with this?"

He smiled. "Yeah, because I _know_ we'll meet."

"Sting…Juvia…"

It felt like that perfect moment in those cheesy love novels where time seems to stand still and they share their first, perfectly perfect kiss…

However, this was not one of those cheesy love novels, and apparently, life decided to hate Juvia so of course that didn't happen.

"Juvia!" she heard a familiar voice yell. "Get in the car, we're going home!"

Juvia inwardly groaned. Now, why, out of all times, now?

"It seems your friends are calling you," Sting smirked and leaned towards Juvia's ear. "Go."

Juvia nodded and ran towards the '65 Impala with Meredy's head sticking out. She looked back, just once, but he was gone.

"Who was that?" Meredy grinned as Juvia climbed back into the car.

"Just a guy that helped Juvia…"

"I think he's cute," Meredy playfully said, nudging Juvia. "What do you think, Gajeel?"

"Hn," he grunted.

The engine revved up once more as intoxicated conversation clouded Juvia's memory.

What an unreal birthday.


End file.
